EdTech IN THE NIGERIAN/AFRICAN FUTURE: THE WAY TO

ENHANCE IT

“Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” – Chinese
Proverb

The future would certainly be different from this present time which allows technology to attract the
attention of the Generation Z in Nigeria. In this digital era, the undoubtful truth is Nigeria still depends
on foreign investments for technological development. With Nigeria’s deficiency in technology, it also
comes with the absence of proper materials and resources for education, which comes off as a disability
to the Generation Z and Generation Alpha.

Nowadays, textbooks do not do all the justice for both students and teachers. It is also hard to find
textbooks these days because of the inaccessibility to proper public libraries. A simple Google search can
provide a wide range of materials and resources for a student compared to the student flipping through
pages of a large textbook. These resources provided by technology can challenge the young mind of the
Nigerian child in different ways possible.

Many argue over the topic that education through medium of technology does not produce graduates
that are equipped for the future. However, this poses as a logical fallacy considering that the digital era
has attracted many young Nigerians and therefore shows that it will be a delight for the typical Nigerian
child to make use of gadgets for their education.

Education through technology

The phrase ‘education through technology’ produces a cliché viewpoint at first, as many thinks that
technology only consists of phones and tablets. Technology in education can come in different forms
Some gadgets are specially designed for education like Moleskine - a gadget that allows you to write
notes by hand and convert them electronically. Although, gadgets like this may be overpriced and dear.
Simple daily-life gadgets may be converted to suit education for children. Examples are radios for
children to listen to educational resources at free time and voice recorder can be used to record the
teacher’s voice and replaying it when revising at home.

The wide alternative provided by technology is to avoid stress in the day to day life of a Nigerian child
which consists of traffic and stress from too much movement which may lead to lack in growth of the
child’s body.

The introduction of Internet of Things (IoT)in Nigerian schools will allow Nigerian schools to improve the
safety of the school environment, keep track of important resources like student’s attendance, and
allow access to information in the classroom.

“Technology will never replace great teachers, but in the hands of great teachers, it’s
transformational.” – George Couros
Technology could be a huge help for students in their revision techniques like active recall. Active recall
is the process of asking yourself your questions then providing answers without looking at your book.
Students could use technology to better their active recall techniques by using apps like Quizlet- a
flashcard app that helps in active recall. Students could also use apps like Forest to track hours of
consistent study throughout the academic year. Teachers also have an advantage in using technology to
educate their students. Teachers could use apps like Google Classroom to provide educational resources
online and assign tasks for a large number of students at once. In in-person classes, smart projector
boards could be used to illustrate the topic being taught by teachers. Technology also eases the stress of
teacher in assessing each student’s performance in the classroom with the use of online grading
systems. Mail merge gives ease in sending results from the school to the parents and makes sure the
summative assessment results are accessible to parents of the children. It could be of a huge help in
Nigerian public schools because of the increasing number of students.

The COVID-19 Effect on EdTech

During recent waves of the COVID-19 virus, the world, during isolation, has been introduced to various
applications that help humans in different ways. In the case of education, Zoom is an app that has been
introduced to teachers for them to hold a virtual classroom for their students.

Nigeria and education

The term “education” doesn’t always refer to the academic sector. Technology could be used by the
Nigerian child to discover what goes on around them and what they should avoid like discrimination and
racism in the society and ways to help their society improve and succeed which in the later future would
bring a greater image to the country. Technology can also help the Nigerian child to learn lucrative skills
to widen their imagination. Technology creates the abode for the Nigerian child’s fantasy.

Although there are many different ways for Nigeria to expand and improve the quality of education in
Nigeria using technology, the real problem lies in the inaccessibility of education to the Nigerian child. In
a research conducted by the UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), one in every five of the world’s
out-of-school children is in Nigeria. There is a rule that primary education and junior secondary
education in Nigeria is free and compulsory, but due to the lack of awareness of this rule, many Nigerian
children are missing out on the academic fantasy. We could use technology by advertising this rule on
electronic billboards, having podcasts and radio talks on this rule and giving awareness to this rule on
social media and televisions.

How technology could help the Nigerian Child and children with disabilities tomorrow

Education through technology could be an open door way for the Nigerian Child to defining career
through STEM. Since technology has attracted Generation Z, the Nigerian child could choose their career
path in the field of STEM. The Nigerian child could learn computer science -a form of technology- to
adapt in the future. The future has been predicted by scientists. The scientists have concluded that the
future is likely to go through a lot of digital transformation and everything of the world may go digital.
Therefore, it might be a disadvantage to the Nigerian child for not knowing how to code or even build
robots.

Technology could also be used to educate the deaf population as 84 percent of the 23.7 percent deaf
Nigerians are undereducated and have formed several isolated deaf communities. Technology could be
used to teach these deaf communities sign languages in their native languages like Yoruba Sign
Language (YSL) which will help them understand the language better.

“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the
teacher is most important.” – Bill Gates

Although technology can be a huge help in education sector but it shouldn’t be misused by teachers as it
comes with disadvantages like when teachers only provide online materials and resources but doesn’t
explain the content, assuming that it is self-explanatory. Children should be guided when using
technology for their education.

The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.” – Herbert Spencer

Many children across Nigeria, as identified, do not have access to technologies to further their
education. Citizens could be of help by donating to various schools or even create awareness and
providing mass education on how we could improve access to technology. Technology could also be
used to educate the illiterate population in simple daily-life discussions and modern implements that
require the ability to read signals and write simple instructions. EdTech companies have been specially
established for these purposes. Helping and supporting this type of companies will improve
technological development in the education sector of Nigeria.

Conclusion

Nigeria has adapted dearly to the visual era of teaching techniques like taking notes in books and writing
on chalkboards. With the recent attraction of Generation Z to technology, the teaching technique
doesn’t seem to have effect on the population anymore. Various forms of technologies like our simple
daily-life gadgets have been suited for the education of the Nigerian child or even the whole population
of Nigeria. Teachers will also benefit from the wide range of materials and resources to provide for their
students but are advised to use them wisely.

Education through technology should not be overlooked as it challenges the Nigeria’s child mind,
provides project-based learning and empowers the Nigerian child to be innovative. Nigeria is lacking in
both sides of education and technology but synergizing these two fields together will empower both of
them. The COVID-19 lockdown has been of huge help in synergizing these two fields.

Action should be taken by the government to eradicate the illiterate population. The government could
provide the access to gadgets such as tablets and laptops in libraries and build more cyber cafes, and
implementing educational materials and resources into simple daily-life gadgets we use for kids to use.

If we improve education through technology, the future will be brighter for the next generation, Nigeria
will produce well equipped graduates, the image of Nigeria to other countries will be enhanced ,Nigeria
will be able to adapt when the world goes through digital transformation, more careers will be
established which may improve the health sector, financial sector, academic sector and the economy of
Nigeria and Nigerians will be educated on the things that go around the world.
References

Deaf people in Nigeria

Emmanuel Ihechi Asonye, Ezinne Emma-Asonye, Mary Edward (2018),(Nigeria), Deaf in Nigeria:A
Preliminary Survey of Isolated Deaf Communities,https://www.journals.sagepub.com

“Nigeria has adapted too much to the visual era of teaching techniques”

EDUTECH202, History of educational technology in Nigeria, https://www.edutech202.blogspot.com

All quotes used as subheadings

Kelly Keodara (KK),)(2019),Collection of 10 best EdTech quotes, https:www.//visuon.com

Internet of Things

Insider Intelligence, (2022), Application of IoT technology in the education sector for smarter schooling,
https://www.insiderintelligence.com

“According to UNICEF...”

United Nations Children's Fund, (UNICEF), (2022), The Challenge, https://www.unicef.org